Destination Paris, Brive and the Limousin

In July 1919 Housman was thinking of touring again in France with Paris, Brive and the Limousin in his sights. He intended leaving his travels until after the end of August because ‘August heat in France might put my health out of order again’. Richards earned further credit from Housman as his ‘guardian angel’ for taking charge of getting him a visa. Richards was always willing to go the extra mile to be of service to his author. Such care and attention helped to cement their relationship. Housman also made the effort to stay with the Richards for two nights on his way home. Housman was now in a position of being able to smooth the rough edges of travel by using hire cars: ‘After my sacrifices for my country during the war I am beginning to spend money on myself instead of saving it up for the Welsh miners’, a reference to the money he had sent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the beginning of the war and the Welsh miners who were threatening to strike as a protest against new income tax regulations. He was also revealing himself as willing to fit in with others, go out of his way to see friends and take on more complexity than many others would at the end of a holiday.

During Housman's tour, he kept in touch with Richards, writing to him from Brive, characteristically always planning ahead and never falling into the stereotype of the absent-minded don. When Richards turned up unexpectedly in Paris on business, Housman wrote to him from the Hotel Terminus:

It is surprising to find that Housman was so fully occupied, but it is more surprising to find that he did not seek to involve Richards in his plans or give any indication of what they were. Housman was showing his enigmatic side; the content of his communications seemed always to be governed by the principle of ‘need to know’.